


{2. Freedom} Breaking Chains

by EmpressTod



Series: Spirits: Far From Home [2]
Category: Dragon Age, Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age - Various Authors, Dragon Age II
Genre: AU, Action, Canon? What Canon?, Dreaming, F/F, F/M, Ferelden (Dragon Age), First Person, Guardsmen, Kirkwall, MCiT, Mage, Mage Rights, Mages and Templars, Modern Character in Thedas, Modern Girl in Thedas, Modern Insert, Multi, OC, Original Character(s), Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Qunari, Qunari OC - Freeform, Slow Burn, Spirits, The Fade, Unreliable Narrator, Warrior OC, city watch - Freeform, i am Suffer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2020-06-02 03:56:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19433440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmpressTod/pseuds/EmpressTod
Summary: The story of a woman who went somehow from a prison in Vegas to a very special boat in Thedas. Maybe being in Kirkwall isn’t the best place for a protester at heart, but it's possible that she landed right when, and where, she was needed the most.I do like to play with canon a little, but who doesn’t?/you don't need to read 1. Defiance to read this. It's not linear!/





	1. Viva la What the Fuck??

I’d gotten too damn used to my cages. Bars on the doors, bars on every god damn thing around me. Stopping me from doing what was right. 

Honestly at first I barely noticed the difference, the days and sights blurred together when all you knew was those bars in front of your eyes. I went from one prison to another. I’d learned to sorta separate myself from what was happening _to_ me a long time ago, helped me stay sane while stuck in a place I knew I didn’t belong.

But… that first fresh breeze, all salt and fish and _other_ , it was like a bolt of lightening. An act of God jolting me outa my daze. I tell you waking up with a completely different set of bars, in a cage I wasn’t intimately familiar with, it was fuckin’ terrifying. I was _outside_. There was an icy breeze flowing through the cage, and as I pressed my face to the bars to glance around, I heard before I saw the lapping of huge waves, rocking where we were back and fourth like a fucked up kinda cradle. And there was a telltale creaking, something in the back of my head that told me I was on a ship. 

My body was weird too, not that I had much time or room to figure that out. Bigger was all I could see at first, then when I tried to adjust myself in the cage, it felt all folded up and crumpled. Like I was in a box way too small for me, when I was used to being the littler one. Getting more panicked, I tried to speak and ask for help. But there was something stopping me, I couldn’t open my mouth for some sharp stings of pain around my lips flared up whenever I tried. 

It’d been _sewed_ shut. 

With no clue what happened, no clue how in the hell I’d ended up in a cage on a fuckin’ _boat_ , when I’d fallen asleep on my bunk in the middle of a lockdown. Maybe it was a dream? My brain playing with me, tryna figure a way to deal with the shit I’d gotten myself into _again_.

It was night time, I remember clearly, I could see the lovely stars above for once, even though they looked a little strange. And there were two… moons. Two fuckin’ moons? What the hell? I shot a prayer up to God to help me outa this as I caught a glimpse of a guy on a stool asleep across the way. He was sitting under a bell, guarding maybe? What kind of incompetent guard falls asleep on the job? Not any that I was used to anyway.

I was on the verge of just shutting down at that point, I’d blown straight past fear right into panic. My lips pressed together without me even knowing why, I couldn’t open them I couldn’t make a noise without jostling the stitches sewing them shut.

Some time passed as I sat there, heart beating frantically as I glanced around looking for a way out. Found that I _really_ wanted to look at the moons, obviously it was just a trick of the light or something… like one of those weird eclipse things? Or like… Climate Change? I hadn’t heard of global warming making an extra moon but weirder things’d happened.

Suddenly there was a scuffling noise off to the side of the deck, I hadn’t ever been on a boat like this but I was sure the noise didn’t really belong. Also, little bit of shock but not quite surprised when the guard didn’t even move an inch from his snoozing perch. 

Watched as the scuffling became a creeping, fleet-footed shadow – who under the dim lamp-light became a tall, dark skinned woman. She didn’t look like anyone I’d ever seen, short black hair curled under a bandanna, the most ornate of gold jewellery glittering at her throat, the highest of thigh high leather boots and only a white shirt covering a body like that that? Okay, now I’m surprised I’ll admit that. 

She was slinging a satchel over her head, stuffing what looked like a huge leather-bound book inside and trying to close it all at once. Glancing behind her, she crept over to the guard, let out the sultriest of amused chuckles, before reaching over. I barely had time to register the wicked gleam of a knife before she was slitting the mans throat without a thought.

If I could’ve I would’ve screamed, but only a muffled groan escaped as I watched the body slump to the floor. _The_ _fuck_ -

“ _Shhhh_ , quickly.” The woman was already moving over to the side of the ship where there were dark clouds looming over the sea. Loosing a rope, I saw one of those canoe things, like an old timey life-raft suspended over the side move down as she gestured back towards the shadows.

One by one, a group of people emerged from the dark, rushing as quiet as they could towards the woman. They were different levels of gaunt and grimy, all scared as a sinner in church as they glanced around. It was… mostly women, and some kids too. Some looked normal, kind of, except they had these old rags on. While others… skinner, bonier, way more underfed. They had pointy ears.

Before I could even register or understand what was happening, a huge wave crashed into the side of the ship. And even in the cage I scrambled to stay upright, and they all clung to each other over near the life-row-boat. The woman wasn’t having any shit though, and she didn’t even stumble as the ship rocked beneath her feet. Helping them get down onto it as quick as she could.

When most of them were gone, it registered that I was also trapped on the boat. Huh, maybe escaping with them was a good option? Out of two shitty options I’d rather not be oragamied into a cage on a damn boat.

But I couldn’t shout to get her attention, so I sort of uh… manoeuvred my giant-ass limbs around to kick at the cage door, groaning and trying to make as much sound as possible.

I almost thought they’d leave without her looking at me and nearly gave up, but she was checking the straps on her bag when she saw me kicking and struggling against the cage. Immediately shock registered on her features, and I saw her visibly hesitate for a moment before making her way over, glancing left and right (maybe waiting for more crew to notice?). 

“Hmm,” She tutted under her breath quietly, kneeling down, “Castilion will sink no lower will he?” Lady, I have no idea who you are but get me the hell out of here!

“You… you’re Qunari aren’t you?” Her head tilted to the side, her glittering eyes cautious as she stared me through the bars. I could see the cogs turning in her head, and I had a vague sense that I should know what the hell she was talking about. But around the sudden appearance in a cage on a _boat_ , and the stitches sewing my mouth shut, I couldn’t string the thread together. Ha, threads. 

“Your name?” 

I think she saw something desperate in my eyes because she was hesitating. Probably hadn’t seen, so I moved closer into the light, running a few fingers over my lips to show her the stitches there.

“Ah…” Shaking her head, disgusted, “ _Qunari_.” Shit, the way she said it I hoped I’d never meet one of these Qunari folks. Whoever they were. She was moving to shove some weird tools into the lock on the door, and I watched, on edge, as she frowned and fiddled.

“You couldn’t let me know your name?” 

_Urgh_ , shaking my head, I threw my hands up in exasperation and immediately hit them on the roof of the cage- o _uch!_ I’d damn well tell her if I could if that was the _most_ pressing thing right now. But it wasn’t.

“I guess not.” As she chuckled, a huge clap of thunder sounded overhead, and I glanced over her shoulder a the slowly brewing storm on its way. “What about that?” She said, nodding at something on my shoulder. 

With a frown, I glanced down. I was still in the clothes I’d fallen asleep in, the tank top and the stupid black scrubs. Why wasn’t I cold? But she was looking at the tattoo on my shoulder. Or collar-bone, the only semi-detailed image of a small bird taking flight. Tacky I know. Don’t judge me! 

“Sparrow, then?” 

I shrugged as the door to the cage (finally!) swung open and I immediately threw myself at the opening, crawling out and putting a hand on the top to stand up. Whooaaa hang on. It took the legs a moment to adjust to being so tall, I _towered_ over the woman as she stood up. Add onto that the huge rocking movements of the ship in what was obviously building up to be a very powerful storm made it so much harder.

She slipped the lock-picking stuff into her pocket, “So, _Sparrow_. You-” 

“ _ISABELAAAAA-_ ”

“Shit.” 

She backed away from the cage, and without even thinking I just went along with her, facing with our backs to the escape-raft and slowly inching our way towards it. There were a motley crew of increasingly ratty-looking human idiots assembling on the deck. The man who shouted was leaning over the barriers up on the higher part of the ship. He had a goddamn gold tooth! No eye patch though. Idiot.

The woman (Isabela right? Hm.) was already drawing a knife out of the top of her boot – that’s goals right there – and started to shout back, “Hayder-” 

If my mouth wasn’t shut all these morons’ would’ve heard the scream of murder as a HUGE ass wave _crashed_ into the side of the boat. Even these seasoned pirates scrambled to stay upright. A few of them charged across the deck with the confidence of much better dudes, swords and shit at the ready.

And of course rain battered the deck as all hell broke loose.

 _Fuck this mess_ , turning and looking down at the other side of the boat for the life-raft… those bastards! They were already gone. Narrowing my eyes over the sea, it was nearly impossible to spot where they’d gone, the damn prisoners had sailed away without us! What ungrateful bullshit… 

No escape now- “AHHH, back in yer cage qunari-scum!” A scottish sounding voice screamed right behind me, and I turned to see one of the pirates swinging a huge fuck-off sword at me with both hands.

 _You think I’m goin’ back in there?_ Tried laughing, but the only thing that escaped with a huff, side stepping to the right and letting the momentum carry him the rest of the way. The too-big-for-this-dweeb sword swung through rain-filled air and buried itself deep into the wood I’d just been leaning on. And before I had a second chance to think about it, a kind of survival instinct kicked in and I pushed him over the edge. Him or me right?

Hearing a shout behind me from Isabela, I saw her in a huge group of the pirates doing her best not to get hit. Eh… in the yard it’s better to steer clear from fights but probably now was the time to break that rule.

With little effort, using muscles I had no clue were there, I lifted the huge sword out of the barrier and tested the weight. You’d think these things would be way heavier… and charged at the nearest idiot.

In the ensuing fight, I probably did little else except knock a few of them over with my stumbling around on the deck. The ship was rocking so much in the storm, waves crashing onto the actual deck even now. Why couldn’t I feel the cold? The night-clothes were so thin and now they were soaking wet.

When most of them were gone, I don’t think I actually hit anyone with the sword, not for like permanent injuries at least. Isabela killed a few of them, but those that weren’t were too flustered to stand up again and weren’t’ even going for their weapons.

Grabbing onto the barrier where the life-raft used to be, I was glaring out into the turbulent ocean, half expecting the canoe to come back maybe with a camera crew to tell me I was being punk’d, but kind of knowing deep down that it wasn’t going to happen.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and glanced down to see it was Isabela. 

“Quickly-” She glanced back over to the group of dudes, “Get over, before they regroup.”

Come again? 

“Urgh, I forgot. Hold still,” Flipping the dagger around, she lifted a hand and held my head in place. Just sort of going with it at this point, especially since she was the one with the weapon and fighting her off was probably a bad idea.

Oh-so-carefully, she cut through the threads around my mouth, each one making this obscene snapping noise as it broke. She didn’t pull them out yet, only broke them. Eventually I was able to open my mouth, and no matter how much it hurt I had to tell her something extremely important.

“I…sabela?”

“Yes?”

“I can’t fucking swim.”

Laughing under her breath, she placed a hand on her satchel and glanced back at the rocking deck at the same time as a wave crashed over all of them. The guy who shouted was just now sitting up.

“Unless you want to go back, there’s not really a choice.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meet Sparrow! Our very own Qunari! 
> 
> I literally wrote and stressed and rewrote this first chapter about 10 times, all for the one reason that I reeeeally wanted to get Sparrow and her introduction right. It was important, but at some point you can only change so much and just decide that it works. 
> 
> Here we go again I guess.


	2. Weird Healer

First thing I'll tell you, it wasn't fun, waking up after all of that. I couldn't remember who I was, what had happened, where I was, why it was so freakin _wet_. There were so many aches and pains pounding through my body that it was impossible to move. Could barely open my eyes without fearing that any light would cause more pain for some reason.

That was how they found me by the way, they were about to camp and one of them went down to the water to wash up. At that point I was able to blink up at the person but the face was so blurry. Aside from that, there was also the thought that I’d just survived a huge thunder-storm, floating through the ocean, when I couldn’t even swim.

God must either hate me or love me. 

"I'm impressed you're not dead, to be blatantly honest." The figure, who I decided had... black hair? Could've been green for all I could see. 

I tried to speak but it _hurt_. The area around my mouth felt bruised and sore, my throat scratchy from sea water. With no clue what the hell was going on, the only thing that escaped was a kind of croaky breath.

"Well... I can't just leave you here..." The figure seemed to lean back, and think for a moment, "Okay, I'll go and get help. Stay here." With what could have been an ironic laugh the figure retreated, and I finally gave up on consciousness.

***

Next thing I knew; I was in a bed. Blankets covered me head to toe; I was warm, dry, comfortable but it was all still too small.

My feet hung off the end, even when I curled up and pulled the blankets around me again. Knowing the alarms were about to go off and wake us all up for the day, I think today was one of the days where I just wanted to stay right where I was. Maybe even go back to sleep…

_Ow_. A sharp pain shot through me from around my mouth, and with it brought back memories of what exactly had happened to me in the past few hours. Or days? How the hell had I ended up on a ship? Since when did they make transfers in literal cages? _Where the had Isabela gone?_

Blinking, I pushed myself up on the bed so I was sitting, holding my hands up in front of me as soon as I caught sight of how _different_ they were. Why was my skin so... odd? It was almost …grey? And my hands were giant- I ran them over my arms knees, shoulders, legs, anything within reach. Ears- pointed? I got to my hair and kind of felt comfort that the familiar tight curls were still there. The world could change around me but I would still thank god for my natural hair. But there were these weird bumps underneath it all though, at my temples the skin was raised and rough, as if something was trying to grow…

I started shaking again, and glanced around the area in a panic. I could move (and open!) my mouth now, thank god, but stung a bit around the lips from where the threads had been.

What on earth happened? I barely remembered my attempts at swimming away from the boat. Where the hell was here?

Now that I was able to actually look around to see, the actual sight of the room I was in jarred with anything I’d actually been in before.

Kind of big, but with low hanging mud ceiling and rotted metal supports holding it up, a bunch of wooden closets out on the opposite side of where I was stuffed full of cleaning supplies, blankets, and baskets of stuff that I couldn’t see from here. The floor was weirdly muddy too, as if we were in a place made of literal dirt, the rickety doors to my left shut but no-where near as sturdy as they wanted to be. There were several cot-bed things littered around the place, kind of like those beds you see in Army shows, where people were lying down moaning and groaning or just generally dead-looking. A hospital maybe? How’d I get here? What the hell was even going on?

“Oh! You’re awake, here we were running bets on how long you’d be asleep.” An accented male voice called from the doors, shutting them behind him as he wandered over.

He had weird robes on, old-timey armour mixed with feathers and padded leather. Chiseled face and long blond hair tied up in a respectable man-bun. His smile was casual and… I guess fine. But I dunno… I just got a weird vibe from him. Not that he couldn’t be trusted, but that I should be wary. Something in my stomach rolled with each step he took closer to the cot I’d been lying in. 

Testing my lips, they still hurt but nowhere near as much, “W… what-”

“Hey, take it easy.” Shaking his head, he leaned a long wooden stick with a ball on the end against the wall near the door, taking a stool and pulling it over to sit across from me. “You’re lucky those didn’t get infected.”

“Huh,” I let out a huff, shaking my head and doing my best to lean away without making it look like I was leaning away from him, “Thanks? I guess?” 

“You’re welcome! I can collect my gold now that you’re awake though,” He grinned, “A friend bet against three days. Between you and me, he had no clue what he was talking about.”

“Ya’ll … were betting on when a stranger would uh… wake up? From a coma?” Had I even been in a coma? What the hell was going on here?

“Sorry,” He didn’t sound it, the bastard, “For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re not dead.”

“Again, not sure if I should thank you.” With each word the weird bruising around my mouth felt worse and worse, but I just gritted my teeth against the pain. Didn’t know this guy from Adam, he didn’t get to see me in pain.

Obviously wasn’t doing a good job though, ‘cause he shot me a sympathetic look and dug around in his pockets for something as he spoke, “They hurt don’t they? I have something for them, aha!” Finally spotting what he was after, he held up a small pot with a red-tinted thing inside, it looked like a salve. “Rub this on the skin every morning and every night, should deal with the pain –and any scars- quite nicely…” He went on to detail more about what was in the salve and how it shouldn’t take long for the little stiches to heal. But to be honest I wasn’t really listening. 

I had this feeling I should know where the fuck I was. That I should find it all familiar. Not just what had happened, but the room I was in and this dude who was still chattering on like I gave a crap. And not just all of that, but trying to deal with how different I was here as well, was just too much at that second. 

“Where… are we?” Glancing back at him, I noted that he looked a little uncomfortable.

“Darktown,” Why so shifty, bozo? What’re you hiding? “My clinic, to be specific. My friends were out on Sundermount and they found you washed up on the shore. Looks like you abandoned ship and promptly forgot how to swim.”

“I didn’t forget,” Shooting him a glare, I braced my hands on the bed to push myself up to stand. The center of gravity was all off and I think I saw stars for a second before I recovered and was able to stand straight, “Didn’t know how in the first place.”

He let out a chuckle standing up and moving the little stool to the side, “Either way, you were very lucky.” Leaning against the wall, he crossed his arms and looked me up and down. “You know… you’re incredibly tall.”

What an idiot. “O… kay? And?”

“I’ve never really seen many women your height, kind of look like the Qunari hanging around the Docks except-” He shrugged a little dismissively, “No horns. And you don’t really see female Qunari around here.” 

First Isabela –wherever the hell she swam off to- spits on the names of these Qunari people, now this dude says I look like them? And they have _horns?_ Enough is enough.

“Huh?” _So goddamn familiar_ , it was gonna kill me where I knew all of this shit from, “So…”

“ _So_ you look like the Qunari but you don’t _really_ look like one if you get what I mean. So what gives? Who are you?”

“Urgh,” Like I have to tell you dick-cactus, “I don’t know squat about you.”

“That’s fair,” He shrugged again, switching his weight around and crossing his arms, “I’m Anders, I … heal people.”

“Heal people? Weird flex but okay…” Standing there, looking around the room the first thing I noticed was how damn uncomfortable I was. 

I was awkward, gangly, and not used to being so tall. I'd gotten so used to uniforms, wearing the same thing day after day, that having to adjust to finding things that were _too small_ for one thing, and completely _alien_ for another was absolutely beyond me. I already had enough shit to deal with at that point, and yet finding a pair of pants that didn’t make me look like she-hulk was what really fuckin’ grated me.

“You know,” Anders said, turning and moving back towards a crate near the back wall, a reaching for a bowl of food, “You really shouldn’t leave right away, you could have a serious head injury.” 

“It’s called a concussion, and I don’t have one –I need some _fucking_ shoes-”

“Your old clothes are over there,” Seemingly ignoring the medical term, he pointed with the spoon to a crate in the corner, “What I could patch up at least.” 

Finally, a useful statement from Anders. Why didn’t he lead with that? Wondering over, I shook my head at the pile there, the singlet wasn’t there, ruined in the sea probably. But the scrub pants and the shoes were, so I grabbed them, yelling over my shoulder at Anders, indicating the weird shirt I was wearing, “You don’t want this back do you?”

“Not particularly, it wasn’t mine.”

“Good, cause I’m keeping it.” Moving back over to the cot thing, I shed the undersized pants and started tugging on the scrubs. They sucked, but at least they’d been oversized before I grew ten inches.

“Where are you going?

“Home, or wherever leads to home. I’ve had enough of…” Pausing in the middle of tugging on the pants, before shrugging, “Whatever the hell this is.”

Anders didn’t look too pleased, but I really didn’t give a fuck what he thought then. Dude gave off a weird vibe, and for no reason I just didn’t want to spend anymore time around him. I had a family to get back to or … somewhere else. People at home at least needed to know I hadn’t died.

The terrible thought occurred to me, as I tugged on the ragged slip-on shows I hated, what if _I couldn’t get home?_

Shaking it outa my head, I grabbed the bottle with the salve in it, throwing a hand up to Anders on my way out, “See ya. Thanks for uh… yeah,” And before he could reply I was out the door and into the cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sparrow's bias against anders is super not colouring my own thoughts towards him. nope. not at all. i'm v unbiased. please comment! they make my day.


	3. Naomi

If Darktown was a peace of shit the rest of the city was the entire toilet. Disgusting analogy but it fit in this case. There was new grim on old grime crusted onto the stone buildings, the streets stained with blood and puddles of mud and rainwater and rats scuttling in the darker places. Big ones too, from what I could tell.

I copped a few stares as I walked through the market, but most seemed too intimidated to actually talk to me. Was it the height? Did I just have one of those faces? Whatever it was, it didn’t take me long to get used to it. 

Found my way, I have no idea how, into a market-place by walking up a few sets of stairs and pushing through crowds. Noting with a little bitterness that of course there were guards stationed everywhere, at least that I was used to

But for all of the things that were familiar; people, guards, even the sight of a few fruit vendors up ahead. All of the _differences_ far outnumbered them. Not only were there regular human people I was used to, men and women with pointed ears and bony limbs scampered around the market with their heads ducked low. My Grandma would’ve had a fit trying to feed them all. All bones no meat. There were a few that were of course dwarves, they had those huge typical beards and everything. The guards had _swords_ , not batons or tasers. Real sharp fuck-off swords. It was like I was in Narnia or some shit, how the fuck do you get back to the wardrobe?

It was so crowded, and the longer I stood there the more I noticed was other. Different. Even the damn sun overhead seemed so strange, as if I could see it moving overhead, the shadows shifting before my eyes. 

And for all of those differences, it was all still on the top of my tongue why the hell it was all so _familiar_. 

Needing to get above the crowd, I pushed my way through to another set of stairs, sort of a balcony above the market, and stood at the edge hyperventilating for a moment. Frowning down at the people just going on with their lives while I wasn’t just starting to wonder what the hell had happened to mine. How had I escaped? How’d I get in that cage? I remembered so badly wanting to be free, and the next thing I knew I was waking up in an _entirely different_ fucking cage. 

“Am I magic?” Whispering to myself, looking down at my hands, I noticed they were shaking. Wishing for something never made it come true, not in the real world, the one I lived in. 

As soon as the thought hit me, my hands dropped to my sides. Heart joining the hyperventilating to start a full on panic-attack. It didn’t make sense, what the hell was happening, how did I get here? How could I get back? Did I _want_ to go back? _This was too much to handle-_

“Um, excuse me messere?” A hand on my elbow made me jump away immediately, a hand clutching at my chest.

A young woman was standing there, pale skin and that kind of classic dark hair falling loose around her shoulders. Wide blue eyes, and an innocent smile playing at dark lips. She was so _short_ , looking at her from up here.

“You scared me!” Letting out a huge breath, my heart still beating through my chest as I straightened up.

She actually put a hand to her mouth and _giggled_. Adorably but still, who does that? “Sorry.”

The feeling that I’d seen something before came back as I narrowed my eyes at her, pursing my lips, “Have we met?”

Shaking her head, she let her hand drop as her smile faded a little. Small amounts of concern colouring her features, “No... I just… noticed you were breathing um… strangely. Wanted to see if you were alright?”

Looking out over the crowd of people, what had to be elves and dwarves and humans all dressed in clothing that was so utterly beyond anything I’d seen. I had no idea how to answer.

“That’s nice of you,” I said, turning back to her. I offered her a small smile, despite the stinging pain it caused the sores around my lips, “But I’m not sure.”

“Well…” Looking me up and down, she held out a hand to the wall behind us, a sort of bench seat situated there, “Maybe you could use a break. I’ve been told I’m a fair listener.” 

“I dunno if you’re ready to hear but, I’ll still sit.” 

Out of view of the market, the bench made everything around me seem much more manageable, like I could block out all of the things that made it different and imagine I was back. That home was right around the corner.

The woman sat down next to me, settling in for a moment and offering me a hand, “I’m Bethany by the way. Bethany Hawke.”

It hurt to smile, so I just nodded. Taking her hand and shaking, “Naomi Sparrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's a short chapter so i wanted to post it real quick , it could've been on the end on last chapter but uhhhhhh it was 2am and i have a head cold


	4. The Safety-Plan

“Okay, so you and your family are refugees? From… uh. Where was it again?”

“Fereldan,” She said, rolling her eyes. She kinda reminded me of my little sister when she was that age, always full of attitude.

“Right…” Scratching my head, I looked out over the dwindling crowd in the square. There was still plenty of people hanging around though, despite the sun going down and those _two dang moons_ steadily emerging above our heads.

“And your Uncle sold you and your sister to a mercenary company?”

“ _Sold_ is a bit strong-”

“And you just recently were freed?”

“Well… yes.”

“Okay… this place is nuts.”

Bethany did this cute thing again, giggling quietly into her hand before looking up at me with a smile. _Damn_ those eyes though.

“It’s home now, I guess. As much as I wish we hadn’t had to leave Fereldan, I don’t think we’re leaving any time soon.” Her smile drooped a little as she looked over the square, and it suddenly hit me that I probably couldn’t leave any time soon either. I had no idea where this was, how would I know which was was home if I just up and left?

Looking down at my hands, I noticed my nails were chewed down to the quick again and didn’t even remember doing it, whoops. “If it helps… I don’t think I’ll be going anywhere either.”

“Hmm I’m not sure if that does help…” I didn’t look but I could feel her move to look at me, “Do you have anywhere to stay?”

“Oh yeah I-“ _Fuckin’ stop talking now Naomi_. My first instinct was usually to deny any help offered, but in a city (a world) as foreign as this one? Talk about zero options. I couldn’t put a pin in help offered, pretend everything was alright and end up sleeping in a gutter. Ha, not when I saw the state of the streets on the way up here. “I… no I don’t. I was thinking of going back to uh… I forget his name. Clinic-guy. Blonde hair. Annoyingly smug disposition?”

“Oh, Anders?”

“Yeah. That guy.” As much as I didn’t want to put up with him, at least he had a few spare beds and a semi-solid roof. Couldn’t get much better in the circumstances. Oh, and possibly even food.

As soon as the thought hit me, my stomach gave off an undeniable rumble, causing Bethany to giggle again, “At least come to the Hanged Man for dinner, the food is terrible but I know someone.”

“No- I uh… yes. Thanks.” Through gritted teeth, I tell you.

The square was close to completely empty, the sun on its way to completely gone, as we made our way through what Bethany called Hightown. Fair enough, seemed whoever named these places was an extremely literal guy. Darktown was dark; Lowtown was under Hightown, and I think we all can guess what gave the Gallows its name. Captain-Obvious award to them.

“Keep your head down, don’t talk or make eye contact with anyone.” Bethany muttered to me as she guided us down towards Lowtown, “That’s my first safety-rule. Well, my sisters’.”

Purposefully hunching my shoulders to look shorted, I battled with a grin as I noticed how much fucking taller I was than her. Laying low probably wouldn’t be good for me in this new body, not like it would’ve been in my old one.

“Your sister has safety rules?”

“Yes, the first rule is to keep your head down.”

“The second?”

“Stab first, ask questions later.”

“Huh.” If it works it works, I guess.

Lowtown was busier at this time of evening, more people rushing home to eat or to do whatever, seemed kind of safer amongst the crowd at first. And every so often I saw these people in fuckin’ armour, grey and orange, stationed about the place or walking the streets. Copped an odd look from one or two of them as we walked, but I made sure not to make eye contact. Following close on Bethany’s tail as she led us toward what I hoped was dinner.

Quite frankly, if the Hanged Man turned out to be something other than a bar with food I would’ve flipped my shit on someone. Possibly the next person to stare up at me.

The closer we got to the place, the more comfortable Bethany seemed to get, less hunched over and speed-walking and more casual and confident strides.

“So… why is it called the Hanged Man?” And why the fuck was that name so familiar? Why was _everything_ so goddamn familiar? There wasn’t a single thing I heard here that didn’t give me a twinge in the back of my head like I’d forgotten something vital, or like there was something on the tip of my tongue that I couldn’t quite remember. _Annoying_.

“Um, not entirely sure I want to know actually.” She threw a sheepish grin over her shoulder, raising her hand to the door.

A bell sounded as Bethany pushed the door open, and I maintained my hunched please-don’t-look-at-me disposition as she led us between tables. Seemed I was right about it being a bar, and an extremely seedy one at that judging by the state of the people crowding around the tables. Although the sticky undefinable liquid on the floor seemed different to the one on the ground outside so at least we had that.

She led us past the main area, up a set of stairs and directly through an open door at the top. Seemed warmer in there, and far cleaner than any other room I’d been in so far. Lux carpet, big fireplace, even bigger and badder wood table loaded with a feast.

At the sight of the food my stomach sounded loudly despite it all, and a chuckle sounded from the chair at the head of the table.

The guy looked up from a book, weird feather quill still positioned to write in it as he looked us both over. Nice clothes, stubble, light hair pulled back a little bit. Friendly grin but a kind of keenness behind his eyes I guess. At least I didn’t get the same vibe from him as I did from Anders, which in my book was a plus to him.

“My my,” He said, looking over at Bethany as she ventured over to the chair on his left, “Who’ve you found now, Sunshine?”

Bethany rolled her eyes, gesturing with a hand for me to sit across from her. And without a complaint I did, at this point willing to do whatever I needed to get this food into me right that second. I hadn’t been this hungry in a _long_ time. 

“She’s new in town, aren’t you Sparrow?” She threw a smile my way and for a second I forgot the hunger, “Everyone new in town can use a friend.”

“I’m sure.” The man turned to me, a question in the tilt of his head, “Sparrow was it? There’s something… are you Qunari?”

“Yeah- no! I’m not a Qunari or whatever that is.” I had to clench my hands together under the table to stop myself from reaching for food just yet. “I’m just – tall.” Fuckin _lame_ , good one Naomi.

“Yeah and I’m just short. Not a dwarf at all. Never heard of a stone or an ancestor.” He chuckled again, reaching for a tankard and sipping it, “But that’s certainly interesting. It’s true I’ve never seen a Qunari without horns. Let alone a female one.”

“ _Excuse_ me?” I’d have been more offended if I wasn’t literally fading away from hunger.

He waved a hand as he spoke, “Go on, eat. You must be starving.”

“I’m Varric by the way,” He said, “Varric Tethras.”

“Naomi Sparrow-” Already speaking around a mouthful of bread.

I gotta say, never eaten so much in my entire life. It had been a long time since I was able to eat as much as I wanted, and a long time since I’d been this hungry. Didn’t exactly lend to lady-like portioning. Honestly never thought I was _able_ to eat that much. Not complaining, but it was still fucking weird.

I leant back in the chair after I finished eating, finally full and exhaustion starting to take over. And it was starting to hit me too, whatever this world was… it wasn’t Earth. For whatever reason I’d gone from my bunk on earth to the cage on that boat in a completely different world. And I just had to get back onto my feet, lay low somehow and survive until I could somehow get back home. I couldn’t do that by jumping on the first boat I could, there wouldn’t be any info that way.

No. I had to stay here. In…. Kirkwall.

Bethany and Varric seemed to be discussing some things about a job in the Deep Roads whatever they were. Some roads somewhere Deep I assumed but that wasn’t important – or I wasn’t listening at the time so who could say it was.

I was making a plan. A survival plan. Bethany’s sister wasn’t the only one who could come up with rules for safety. Or in my case; returning home in one piece.

The first point on this plan, I needed somewhere to live. Somewhere safe, somewhere to keep my head down. I couldn’t stay at Anders’ clinic indefinitely, and there wouldn’t be many people willing to help out a stranger, at a guess Kirkwall wasn’t exactly the most welcoming place. Besides, I wouldn’t want their help anyway.

Then… next step is a source of income. So I wouldn’t starve, and so I could afford to leave at the drop of a hat if I had to. Simple as that. Even if the money was all whack here I still needed it. Everybody did.

“Sovereign for your thoughts, Sparrow?” Varric glanced over, “You seem deep in thought.”

Heaving a sigh, I glanced up and looked around the room. “Just thinking about what my next move is gonna be.”

“What exactly does that mean?” Bethany seemed genuinely curious, leaning her chin on her hand as she stared across the table.

“I… I need a job. If I’m going to stay in Kirkwall.” Looking between them both, these two essential strangers, I crossed my fingers that I could trust the familiar feeling that told me I could trust them, “Know anyone who’d help me out?”

“VARRIC! Thought I’d catch you!” Suddenly a voice yelled from outside before a heavily armoured, ginger-haired, stocky woman appeared in the doorway with a thunderous expression. “WHAT’S THIS I HEAR ABOUT HAWKE BREAKING INTO THE CHANTRY AT NIGHT?!”

“Ah!” Varric grinned innocently, clapping his hands together, “Aveline! Just the person I was thinking about. Now,” What a skill, completely ignoring what somebody was saying, “Sparrow. This is Guard Captain Aveline. She’s hiring.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did i expect sparrow to have immediate chemistry with bethany? no. do i love it anyway? yes. of course i do. i dont control these things lmao they just happen.


	5. A Break In Routine

There’s a lot of peace to be found in a routine.

Never thought I’d say this, but I was kinda glad to be in a place that was semi-familiar to me. After all that time locked up, I had my days down-pat. Knew what was going to happen, day in day out. Wake up and hear the snores and cries and sobs of the other people around, cause you don’t sleep alone when you’re stacked on top of each other liked a damn carnival. Meals are served on time, sticking to your allotted portion means you actually felt okay enough to face the day despite the craving for a good cup of coffee. If you miss meal you go hungry till the next one, cause where else are you going to find something cooked and edible enough to eat?

All this is to say that while the Barracks was familiar enough I sometimes forgot that I’d landed in Thedas, the one sparklingly different thing was that now _I_ got to be in charge. The switch from what I was to being a guardswoman? Refreshing now that I think about it.

And in the early days in Kirkwall, that routine saved me from loosing all hope. From going insane with missing home, missing Earth.

Few weeks passed, settled into training easily. Aveline hadn’t had to take me, nobody forced her to, but I’m not sure I guess I reminded her of someone cause she did with next to little complaint.

Another thing that helped deal with it all was I got to swing a giant fuck-off sword whenever I got all in my feelings. Hacking apart training dummies was great, a good stress reliever, they should put these things everywhere I tell you. The world would be a better place. Well, the worlds.

So it was on this routine-high, earning money, settling in somewhere that I couldn’t believe I’d ended up, that I was finishing my first patrol up. Uneventful, I was always with two others cause Kirkwall was an unsafe shithole so we never really got attacked. Or if there was any crime they’d hear us coming in our janky armour and bolt before we ever got there.

The patrol had been uneventful, so we’d returned early to the Barracks. I was still in training at that point, and unused to wearing the guards-armour in this giant tall Qunari form so I usually took any excuse to take it off right after work. The padding underneath was comfortable enough without putting the armour on top, that just ended in chafing.

Stretching, ducking so I didn’t bump my head on the door as I joined the others in the main area, “Anyone wanna hit up the Hanged Man? I need a change of scenery.”

The two others I’d been on patrol with, Leon and Isaac, barely looked up from their card-game as they laughed.

“Lowtown?” Leon tutted under his breath, “All the way there just to stumble back up here drunk?”

“I’ll pass on that one too, Sparrow.” Isaac at least looked apologetic, “Maybe next week?”

Grumbling, I just shook my head, “Yeah sure.” Shrugging on a kind of red military coat, I buckled my sword across my back.

Add this to the safety-list; always travel armed. Even if all you do is swing until you hit something.

“You two Grandmas stay here; I’m going to have a fun night. Byeeee,” Throwing a hand up and not even turning, I stretched again and crossed the familiar way towards the stairs.

At night all of the streets turned completely barren, no one good ventured out in the open when it was dark. _Very_ different from home, where even in the dead hours of early morning there were always people around, lights shining, dance music echoing from somewhere.

Not here though, here the streets were silent.

If you were out after dark in Kirkwall, you weren’t up to anything good.

The silence didn’t seem to help though. Sleep hadn’t been working out well for me here so far. The longer I stayed out, the better the chances of a dreamless, uninterrupted rest.

And for all the routine I’d settled into though, there was one thing I kinda couldn’t deal with. I was… still alone.

“ _HEY_ , stay away from us _shem!-_ ”

“-Or we’ll gut you like fish!”

“What the hell was that…” Hearing some responding gravelly kind of cackle in response to the shouts, I paused. I was still in Hightown, but the streets were very confusing, must’ve wandered off or something.

“Put the knife down elf, if you both know what’s good for you-”

Charging around the corner I immediately clenched my fists at the sight of a bunch of those weird guys in silver armour surrounding two small women, pointed ears told me they were elves.

Lots of instincts told me not to get in the way, staying out of a fight back home would keep you alive. Shit, I could barely swing a sword more than ten times without getting tired.

_They don’t know that though._ Something in me said I could beat these guys, that all I had to do was just step in, square up, intimidate the shit out of em. Simple.

“He-” Coughing around the sudden frog in my throat, “Hey!” There went my badass entrance.

Some of the goons turned around and shot me an odd look I couldn’t quite understand in the dark, “Move on. Nothing to see.”

Squaring my shoulders, I made to reach behind me for the hilt of my sword, “Having just left the Barracks, I saw the next patrol leave for Hightown. You want me to go get em?”

The threat hung in the air between us all, and I know they knew I couldn’t take them. But there’s something… I don’t know. I couldn’t quite place a lot about being all tall and weird now, but sometimes just a glare would set a few people running. Maybe being tall is intimidating? Or maybe I should just do some research into these Qunari folks.

One of the dudes shook his head, muttering to the one who spoke and I found that some of the tension dissipated as they spoke.

“Eh…” He cast a glance over his shoulder at the pair of elves, “Not worth it.” Gesturing with his chin over his shoulder, the rest of them followed suit as he filed out of the little courtyard.

“Phew,” Breathing a sigh of relief, I darted over to the two elves who still eyed me warily, “Quick, I’m headed to Lowtown, might be safer if we all walk together.”

The two of them glanced at each other, and I backed off a little as they discussed before nodding, “Alright. You go first.”

“Sure!” Turning around, I marched in the opposite direction those goons had come from for a few seconds before a giggle reached me from behind.

“You’re going the wrong way.”

“Oh… um. Which way is Lowtown?”

***

“You two get home safe alright? If you need me I’ll be in here,” Pointing towards the Hanged Man, I watched the two elven women scurry off towards what I’d learned was the Alienage. Looked damn familiar to certain places back home that place did.

Heaving a sigh, I just turned towards the Hanged Man kicked the door open before stomping inside, “Corff! Drink over here!” Gave an internal laugh as the guy jumped and rushed to get a drink for me. I wouldn’t ever get over how scared of a tall Qunari-esque figure some people would get around here. Only some people were though, seemed to most I was just a really tall person go figure that.

The woman leaning against the bar shot me a knowing smirk, blue eyes bright and almost glowing. She didn’t say anything though, merely watching Corff in amusement as he fell over himself to getting my drink.

Grabbing the drink, I made for a spare table in the corner where I could sit next to the fire and people-watch. The Hanged Man was usually full of those colourful types, lots of travelers and interesting people passing through. And me, most nights when I knew I couldn’t sleep and didn’t want to stay cooped up in the Barracks.

Sipping the truly disgusting swill and forcing it down, I eyed the rest of the Hanged Man and realised it was unusually quiet for the time of night. Not many around really, there was the talkative guy stumbling down from his usual spot up the stairs, a few women dressed in bland colours crowded around a table in the far corner, a lot of random dudes just hanging around sometimes harassing Norah the waitress as she passed. The blue-eyed woman in leathers casually leaning against the bar talking to Corff, who seemed enchanted as she flipped a bundle of dark dreadlocks over her shoulder.

_Urgh_ , could feel a headache coming on already. Usually every night around the same time it came on, stress probably. Still hadn’t figured a way out, still hadn’t woken up from whatever coma I’d fallen into. And that stupid feeling that something was going completely over my head hadn’t abated too. Like I should’ve figured _something_ out by now at least.

The woman thanked Corff and shot me a wink as she ventured up the stairs towards the back rooms. Maybe she was staying here? _God_ why’d those eyes look so familiar… everything was just fucking familiar okay!

The door opened and closed, and I glanced up idly only to nearly jump out of my seat at the sight of Isabela sauntering up to the bar like she owned the place. _The fuck?_ Isabela was alive? She’d made it back here? How had I not run into her yet?!

Downing my drink, I immediately barreled over to her. Ignoring the grumbles from the dudes as I bumped the corner of their table and sent some of their drinks wobbling.

“ _Isabela?_ ” Running a hand over my hair I looked her up and down, she looked good. Way better than I had after I nearly drowned. Least she’d been able to swim damn her.

She shot me a surprised look out of the corner of her eye before she turned fully my way, “Sparrow! What a pleasant surprise, you’re alive!”

“Yeah no thanks to you,” My frown only made her smile grow, “Hey don’t laugh I can’t fuckin’ swim what made you think I’d make it?”

“Hmm,” She swirled her drink with another smile, leaning fully against the bar as she popped a hip, “Intuition.”

Baffled. That’s what I sounded as I could only repeat, “ _Intuition_. Wow. Not a lot to stake our lives on huh?”

“I’ve staked my life on less.” With a shrug she turned fully to me, glancing over my clothes with the first curious frown I’d seen on her face, “Looks to me like you’ve found a place here.”

“Yeah I kinda have, again no thanks to-”

“Isabela!”

_Alright interrupty,_ I frowned over towards the door where a group of men had gathered, hadn’t even noticed them coming in. They all looked super shady, all carrying weapons and sporting armour that looked like it’d seen better days.

“Friends of yours?” Raising an eyebrow at her, noticing she’d turned her backs on the dudes and was ordering another drink, “You sure are popular tonight.”

“See Sparrow, you’ll soon find out I’m popular _every_ night.”

Rolling my eyes, I watched as the main dude squared up and strutted over, hocking a loogie over into the corner. Wow.

“You owe us Isabela.” He grunted, leaning on her other side as she pointedly ignored them. Well, fun to see where this was going.

“Well, Lucky.” Bit of a talent, sounding friendly while also being intimidating. I’d have to practice. “Since your information was worth nothing,” Casual sip of drink, “That’s what I’ll give you.”

I backed off, let her deal with it. She’d probably be better off here without me to be honest, all I knew how to do was hack a practice dummy to pieces.

He slammed a hand over her drink, “Me and my boys will get our moneys worth, bitch!”

I stifled a snigger at the statement, seemed like someone’d just copy pasted douche-canoe into this one guy. What a fucking moron.

Wasn’t sure what I expected her to do but she leaned closer to him, tutting under her breath, “Oh you poor, sweet thing.” Suddenly she moved, slamming Lucky’s head into the bar with a laugh, reaching back and punching one of the other guys in the face.

“Hey Norah you got any popcorn?”

“Sorry Serrah I’m not sure what you mean-”

“S’all good.”

There were a few other blows, a knee to a groin, the standard fair. Ending with Isabela’s dagger aimed right at Lucky’s throat, her eyes narrowed down the blade at him as he hesitated with his sword in the air, “Tell me Lucky. Is this worth dying for?”

Well it obviously wasn’t, cause he and his boys stumbled away without another word.

“Fucking spectacular,” Offering a meagre clap I stepped forward and ordered us both more drinks, “Job well done.”

“You couldn’t have swung that massive sword to help?”

“Oh I’m sure I wouldn’t have helped-”

Behind us both someone cleared their throat, and together we turned to see that the blue eyed woman had appeared again, a bright smile on her face and her eyes gleaming with that same amused almost wild glint.

And… _that’s_ when it clicked.

Where I was standing, what was so familiar, the entire world around me. _That’s_ when it fucking clicked. Standing in front of somebody who I now recognised, standing in the flesh and smirking her head off. 

Swallowing down the headache-turned-migraine, I turned back to Corff to order another drink, “And just leave the fuckin bottle there, my guy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hullooooo chapter 5 is here and sparrow is just,, she's a breath of fresh air and i have no idea why. i just love her a lot. feel free to leave a comment!


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